Muddy Waters - Hard Again (1977)
BAND/ARTIST: Muddy Waters
- Title: Hard Again
- Year Of Release: 1977
- Label: Blue Sky Records / CBS Inc. #ZK 34449 (US)
- Genre: Chicago Blues, Electric Blues, Slide Guitar Blues
- Quality: EAC Rip -> FLAC (Img+Cue, Log) / MP3 CBR320
- Total Time: 00:45:39
- Total Size: 298 / 142 Mb (Full Scans)
- WebSite: Album Preview
Hard Again is a 1977 Chicago blues album by Muddy Waters. It was recorded by producer Johnny Winter in a rough, bare-bones style. Released on January 10, 1977, Hard Again was Muddy's first album on the Blue Sky label after leaving Chess Records.
The sessions for Hard Again were recorded across the space of three days. Producing the session was Johnny Winter and engineering the sessions was Dave Still – who previously engineered Johnny's brother Edgar, Foghat, and Alan Merrill. For the recordings Muddy used his then current touring band of guitarist Bob Margolin, pianist Pinetop Perkins, and drummer Willie "Big Eyes" Smith. Other backing members during the sessions were harmonicist James Cotton, who performed with Muddy at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1960, and bassist Charles Calmeses, who performed with both Johnny Winter and James Cotton in the past.
The album was well received by music critics. John Quaintance of Yahoo! Music called it "a remarkable album" and a "return to form" for Muddy Waters, commenting that "Johnny Winter, … James Cotton, Pinetop Perkins, Bob Margolin, Charles Calmese and Willie "Big Eyes" Smith are all thrilled to be in the same room with Muddy, and it shows, as they lay down a serious foundation for the old master who struts and brags like it's 1950 again." Q called it "a guaranteed delight" for "students of the post-war blues", while Down Beat stated, "Singing, [Muddy is] playful and proud, brawny and insistent, his free-flow of inspiration spreading to his superlative road band". Dan Oppenheimer of Rolling Stone magazine said that "Mannish Boy" sounded like it was recorded live, while both Oppenheimer and Daniel Gioffre of Allmusic state how powerful Willie "Big Eyes" Smith's drumming is. Oppenheimer and Gioffre both share the opinion that Hard Again is Muddy Waters comeback album. In The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004), Rolling Stone journalist Dave Marsh gave the album four out of five stars and commented that "Johnny Winter provided the sensitive production touch otherwise lacking on some of [Muddy's] early '70s recordings."
In his consumer guide for The Village Voice, Robert Christgau gave the album an A rating upon its release, indicating "a great record both of whose sides offer enduring pleasure and surprise." He praised its "intensity", which he attributed to "the natural enthusiasm of an inspired collaboration", and remarked on its standing in Chicago blues, "except maybe for B.B. King's Live at the Regal and Otis Spann's Walking the Blues (oh, there must be others, but let me go on) I can't recall a better blues album than this." In a later review for Blender, Christgau found Muddy Waters to be in "virile voice" and commented that "all-star musicians and fresh prospects stimulate the excitement promised in the title.
Hard Again peaked at #143 on the Billboard 200, which was his first appearance on the chart since Fathers and Sons in 1969. The album won the Grammy Award for Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording the year of its release.
The sessions for Hard Again were recorded across the space of three days. Producing the session was Johnny Winter and engineering the sessions was Dave Still – who previously engineered Johnny's brother Edgar, Foghat, and Alan Merrill. For the recordings Muddy used his then current touring band of guitarist Bob Margolin, pianist Pinetop Perkins, and drummer Willie "Big Eyes" Smith. Other backing members during the sessions were harmonicist James Cotton, who performed with Muddy at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1960, and bassist Charles Calmeses, who performed with both Johnny Winter and James Cotton in the past.
The album was well received by music critics. John Quaintance of Yahoo! Music called it "a remarkable album" and a "return to form" for Muddy Waters, commenting that "Johnny Winter, … James Cotton, Pinetop Perkins, Bob Margolin, Charles Calmese and Willie "Big Eyes" Smith are all thrilled to be in the same room with Muddy, and it shows, as they lay down a serious foundation for the old master who struts and brags like it's 1950 again." Q called it "a guaranteed delight" for "students of the post-war blues", while Down Beat stated, "Singing, [Muddy is] playful and proud, brawny and insistent, his free-flow of inspiration spreading to his superlative road band". Dan Oppenheimer of Rolling Stone magazine said that "Mannish Boy" sounded like it was recorded live, while both Oppenheimer and Daniel Gioffre of Allmusic state how powerful Willie "Big Eyes" Smith's drumming is. Oppenheimer and Gioffre both share the opinion that Hard Again is Muddy Waters comeback album. In The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004), Rolling Stone journalist Dave Marsh gave the album four out of five stars and commented that "Johnny Winter provided the sensitive production touch otherwise lacking on some of [Muddy's] early '70s recordings."
In his consumer guide for The Village Voice, Robert Christgau gave the album an A rating upon its release, indicating "a great record both of whose sides offer enduring pleasure and surprise." He praised its "intensity", which he attributed to "the natural enthusiasm of an inspired collaboration", and remarked on its standing in Chicago blues, "except maybe for B.B. King's Live at the Regal and Otis Spann's Walking the Blues (oh, there must be others, but let me go on) I can't recall a better blues album than this." In a later review for Blender, Christgau found Muddy Waters to be in "virile voice" and commented that "all-star musicians and fresh prospects stimulate the excitement promised in the title.
Hard Again peaked at #143 on the Billboard 200, which was his first appearance on the chart since Fathers and Sons in 1969. The album won the Grammy Award for Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording the year of its release.
Track List:
01. Mannish Boy [05:24]
02. Bus Driver [07:44]
03. I Want To Be Loved [02:25]
04. Jealous Hearted Man [04:23]
05. I Can't Be Satisfied [03:30]
06. The Blues Had A Baby And They Named It Rock And Roll (#2) [03:37]
07. Deep Down In Florida [05:26]
08. Crosseyed Cat [06:01]
09. Little Girl [07:08]
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